Bret

4.0 easy miles this morning. Had a terrible last 2 weeks of running with possible injuries work commitments and travel. Thursday I had an overnight flight and then Friday awoke with a really bad cold. So today was all about getting out to start the year out with a run. Did not feel well but was happy I did not take a zero.

PM - 10 miles in Palm Harbor - to the Dunedin Causeway and up the Pinellas Trail.  Still have a cold, but figured I better get back on track with my training and do a "long" run - of at least 10 - which turned out reasonably good.  I averaged 7:45 pace - with most of the later miles at 7:30. 

Lunchtime run - repetition workout.  8 x 400 @ 81 - full recovery - 10 minute warm up and 10 minute cool down.  Tough workout after kind of being out for the last two weeks.  Working on turn over - pleased with the effort.

PM - Lunchtime run in the gym.  7.0 miles on the treadmill at 7:40 pace.  Kind of a choppy - never got comfortable type of run - hate those. 

AM - 5.0 miles easy with 8 striders at the end.  Quite slow going and tight this morning.  Have not really done an early morning run in weeks - so I chalk it up to that and last week's lay off. 

Treadmill workout at lunch - 3x 1200 at 4:21 with 4 min recovery.  15 min warm up and 15 min cool down.  Bailed on the last 400 of the last one - just couldn't tough it out.  Give myself a B- on the workout.

Easy run today around noon 7.0 miles.  Still not feeling like I am back in the training groove. Will increase mileage gradually over the next few weeks. 

I had hoped to get a few more miles in than what I did today but was short on time. Very good run though.

PM - on Treadmill - 8 x 400 @ 81 secs - full recovery - 2 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down.  Did this workout last week, but felt much more in control and good after I was done following this week's workout.  In additiona, I did not feel like running this morning and thought that if I postponed until later in the day, I would be better fit mentally to do the workout.  Unfortunately, after a long day at work I really had to convince myself to get this workout completed at the end of the day.  Glad I did.

AM - early easy 4.0 mile shake out run recovery from yesterday's repetitions workout.  I think I am in a bit of a running funk right now with some poor motivation.  Had a hard time getting out the door this morning.  Felt fine once I got started - it was just the gettting there that was tough.  Will try to follow up with a secondary run later in the day.

Lunchtime - managed to squeeze in a 6 mile run on the treadmill at lunch with 6 striders, in between a day of back to back business meetings.  Too chilly outside today to run as I only had shorts and a t-shirt with me at the office.  Below 50 degree temps with significant wind chills in the middle of the day in Florida is a bit unusual.

Worklife got in the way of running today - so it became a rest day.

Early AM on the treadmill - 4 x 800 @ 2:47 with 2 min recovery.  This was manageable but bordered on the edge of too fast / too tough.  2 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down.

Late afternoon - did an easy 4.5 miles on the treadmill before a business dinner. 

PM - 8.0 miles late afternoon - stress reliever.  Had to work most of the day today :( But had a nice run.

PM - 13.0 miles on the treadmill at the gym.  Felt very comfortable at 7:40 pace.

PM - lunchtime run on treadmill - repetitions 12 x 300 @ 5:20 pace (essentially 1 min) with full recovery (about 2 mins); 2 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down.  Dreary rainy day outside - but probably would have done these on the treadmill regardless.  Changed up from doing 400's the last two weeks and added a few to accomodate for the decrease in the length of the workbout.  I liked the 300's better than the 400's for a change - they seem easier mentally too because I feel like I can endure almost anything for a minute. Perhaps I am picking up some better economy too after as this is my third week of doing these.   

PM - lunchtime run.  7.0 miles outside around Carillon and Feathersound.  This should have been an easy recovery run, but the weather was good and I began progressively pressing the pace each mile until I ran the last mile at 6:37.  Today would have been better to either casually run with a partner or lock into a pace on the treadmill to keep the pace light - not that the the pace was hard today, but it was faster than a normal recovery run.  Will try to run with one of my daughters later this evening or force a slower run tomorrow morning for proper recovery.

PM - lunchtime run on the treadmill at 7:35 pace - Did 8 striders at 5:10 pace for 20 seconds each - felt fine to a little bit fatigued.  Have to travel this afternoon to Denver for a meeting tomorrow.

AM - 5.0 miles easy on the treadmill at the hotel.  Early meeting and really poor weather conditions (at least for a Florida boy) kept me inside - 3-4 inches of snow overnight and 12 degrees.  Felt the altitude (or at least I think I did) as I was not that comfortable during the run.

PM - Lunchtime run.  Cruise intervals 8 x 1000 meters on treadmill at 6:18 mile pace (or about 3:55) with 1 min recovery.  1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down.  I have not done this workout in a while.  I felt very good.  In fact it would seem that I could have targeted a slightly faster pace perhaps 6:10 to get the intended impact of the workout.  Perhaps it is a good peak at where I think I may be fitnesswise.  I did a tempo run at that pace at the beginning of December and struggled.

AM - easy 6.0 miles.  Very windy and temperature dropping - felt crappy and really did not enjoy this run at all - Maybe should have taken the day off.

Rest day

Lunchtime run around Carillon office park.  4.25 miles - actually felt very good and ran faster than I wanted to run this easy few miles.  I am planning to do a workout this evening but wanted to get a few extra miles in early in the day.

PM - workout on the treadmill.  6 x 400 at 81 / full recovery then 4 x 200 at 38 - full recovery - 1.5 mile warm up and 1.0 mile cool down.  Did this on the Woodway treadmill at the gym near my house.  It was a bit clunky getting the speed set each time, but it ramped up to the proper speed quite quickly - no rail on one side of it so it was a bit dangerous too.  Good workout - felt strong.

PM - Lunchtime - 7.5 miles around Carillon and Feathersound.  Windy and humid with some strong gusts ahead of cold front that is moving through.  Probably finished just ahead of the storms.  Kept the pace comfortable and was pleased to see that it would appear that my new "easy" pace over the last couple of weeks is about 7:15 per mile.

AM - easy 3.0 miles - needed a stress relief run as I awoke in a bit of a grumpy mood.  Unfortunately midway through the run in the cold windy weather, it started to rain.  Did nothing to improve my mood.

PM - Lunchtime run - 7 miles on the treadmill at 7:13 pace with 8 striders at the end.  Mood had improved by then in any event!

PM - lunchtime - easy 6.00 miles around Carillon office park.  Crisp cool and quite windy - in the mid 50's - not exactly comfortable.  Legs are feeling a bit heavy today - this week's training with two doubles and a hard workout on Monday is making me think of little to no running tomorrow and possibly a 5k race on Saturday morning.

3-4 easy light running miles at lunch.  I have a choice of three different 5k races tomorrow morning - have not decided which one (if any) I will do - but wanted to do a light workout today in case I do race tomorrow.

5k Race in Wesley Chapel today near Wiregrass High School. Had a very satisfying result following some solid training the last few weeks. 5:43 first mile was a bit fast but did not feel that way. Lots of high school distance runners to chase. Lost to one at the finish, but was the overall masters winner. Best time in over 15 years. Good improvement since a 5k in December where I ran 18:24. Would like to go sub 18 next time out.

PM - long run 20.0 miles.  If I am going to do a spring marathon in April - I need to get a number of 20 milers in before then.  This was the first one - and I really have not done any long runs over 13-15 miles since October - and I felt it afterwards.  Most of the run was good.  Started out slowly and then worked into a pace that was probably too fast (7:15 for several miles) and by the time I reach 17 miles or so, I was already pretty sore and in need of fuel - if I could have ended then I would have been better off.  I slowed a bit and finished fine, but was very achy and sore and tired afterwards.  Will need to monitor the next couple of long runs to see if my body adapts.